82 
THE BROAD BUCKLER FERN. 
and more or less obliquely from the larger develop¬ 
ment of tbe lower side. Pinnae pinnate, pinnules near 
their base often so deeply divided as to be again al¬ 
most pinnate, tbe rest pinnatifid or in tbe npper parts 
merely deeply serrated, but tbe margins, whether 
deeply or shallowly lobed, set with teeth ending in 
short spinous points. Venation similar to the more 
compound parts of the allied species. Sori in great 
plenty, ranged in double lines across the larger lobes 
of the pinnae or along the less divided parts, and 
covered with kidney-shaped scales or indusia fringed 
round their margins with projecting glands. 
The typical from of L. dilatata grows nearly all 
over the United Kingdom, from the coast-level to an 
elevation of 3,000 feet. It prefers shady situations, 
moist woods and glens, thickets and hedgerows. It is 
widely dispersed through the northern hemisphere, 
and in the Hookerian Herbarium there is a specimen 
labelled ‘from Hew Zealand.’ It is common every¬ 
where throughout the Lake District. 
L. dumetorum is a distinct variety of dilatata. Its 
type may be taken from one found by Miss M Beever, 
dwarfish, with broad-ovate or elongate-triangular and 
sometimes deltoid fronds, remarkable for their glandu¬ 
lar surface, and for the large abundant sori produced 
freely on plants of a very immature age. Some of 
its modifications have been referred to var. collina , 
from which, however, they differ in their abundant 
glands and fimbriated or jagged scales. Miss Beevor’s 
plant was found on the fells of Tilberthwaite, Con- 
istom and the same form has been gathered by Mr. 
